Tuesday, October 07, 2008

As of October 1, 2008 the U.S. has a new division of military assigned to keep the country safe and maintain crowd control when necessary. The Army assigned the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team to duty within the continental United States.

"The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent 35 of the last 60 months in Iraq patrolling in full battle rattle, helping restore essential services and escorting supply convoys.

After 35 months of training in Iraq, this military branch is now deployed to fight threats in the U.S. such as civil disobedience and massive protests. This marks the first time an active military unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.

The tricky part is that this initiative is in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act which is often cited as a major constraint on the use of the military services to participate in homeland security, counter terrorism, civil disturbances, and similar domestic duties. This law was created to prohibit the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps from performing any kind of police work or assisting law enforcement agencies to enforce the law.

The 2008 RNC in St. Paul exemplifies that an excessively forceful police presence leads to more violence. The blunt use of force and covert surveillance at the RNC is evidence that the government will take many measures, even preemptive ones, to silence the voices of dissent.

Can someone say Police State? The Government must be planning on huge numbers of people rising up against, take your pick; thousands of homes being foreclosed on while millionaires stay fat and rich, another illegal election process, poor plans to insure a clean energy future, a war with no end in sight, increased media consolidation that allows corporate media to pollute our airwaves and dull our brains, poor health care initiatives, a global political presence that embarrasses us while bullying other countries, further investments in military while a peace economy makes more sense. You can add to the list of things to be outraged about in the comments section below.